ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews studies on T lymphocyte function in anti-viral immunity, emphasizing observations made with cloned virus-specific T lymphocyte populations. It focuses on results from the laboratory where cloned populations of class I and class II major histocompatibility complex restricted influenza virus-specific T lymphocytes have been used to analyze T lymphocyte function in recovery from lethal murine influenza infection. Innoculation of mice with infectious type A influenza virus stimulates a vigorous cytotoxic T lymphocyte response which shows a high degree of cross-reactivity for type A influenza strains of serologically distinct subtypes. T lymphocytes have been postulated to play an important role in recovery from viral infection. The finding that I region-restricted virus-specific T lymphocytes could express specific cytolytic activity raised the issue of the role of these T cells in recovery from viral infection. “Cytolytic” T lymphocytes specificities can be correlated with the recognition of specific influenza viral polypeptides.
